<p>im in my second semester of junior year, and so far in the past 5 semesters of high school i have gotten 5 B's and the rest are A's. Total GPA is 4.1, ranked 8th in the class.</p>
<p>freshman year:
- PE
- public speaking
- honors physical science
- honors english
- honors algebra 2
- spanish 1
Straight A's</p>
<p>sophomore:
- PE
- honors english
- honors biology
- honors world history
- honors math analysis
- spanish 2
- art 1
Straight A's first semester, B's in bio and history second semester.
took a summer history course at the local jr college, got an A and it gave me a weighted grade point, as if it was an AP class.</p>
<p>junior:
- journalism
- AP psychology
- newspaper production
- AP calculus
- honors english
- honors chemistry
and i'm on the academic decathlon team.
i got B's in calculus, english, and chemistry last semester. the rest were A's.</p>
<p>no sports, no job. i play the piano though, and i volunteer at the local hospital, with about 100 hours so far, and another ~100 hours in being a camp counselor for 6th grade camp.
i used to take dance, i did for 13 years. i had to quit for lack of time and money :(</p>
<p>i took the SAT and got a 1990, but i plan to take it again and i took an SAT course, so hopefully the score will be a lot better next time. i have yet to take the ACT and SAT subject tests.</p>
<p>what do i have to do to improve my chances? will taking summer courses help? or am i completely hopeless? i came into high school with the goal of straight A's but i guess that's out the window :( does the same go for UC Berkeley?</p>
<p>No it does not go for Cal as well. Are you able to calculate your UC GPA? (Counting semesters from Soph. and JR. year, you are only able to weight 8 semesters.)</p>
<p>I believe avg UC GPA for Berk last year was 4.17?
Your SAT I score is good, in my opinion. But just under the average, (last year was around 2050).</p>
<p>Have SAT II scores at least 650+.</p>
<p>Do you have any leadership positions? (President of key club or anything etc.)</p>
<p>I think my UC GPA currently is 4.09. If I get straight A's this semester, it will be 4.11 :-/</p>
<p>I am thinking about taking college courses this summer, but they won't bring up my GPA, right? The courses will lower my GPA because of that 8 honors course limit... but the admissions officers will note the extra classes I took... right?</p>
<p>Haha, I am so lost. Forgive me for being naive :)</p>
<p>I do not believe the extra classes will be incorporated into your GPA, however, the UC's give extra points for you taking more classes that are beyond the 'required A-G'.</p>
<p>8th/499 is good, and if your high school is in the ELC program, which I believe most high schools in California are? (Not sure.. someone clarify this) Well basically, here is a website that explains ELC </p>
<p>Basically, if you are accepted into the ELC program, you would be guaranteed to at least 1 UC university, just not necessarily the one of your choice. I believe that being accepted into the ELC program also adds onto your application.</p>
<p>I am not familiar with the ACT's and the school averages.. but if I had to guess... around 28-30?</p>
<p>You have a good SAT score, and if you are positive that you can raise it up, then do so and get it 2000+.</p>
<p>If you are able to do all that and get a 4.11, you'd have an okay/mediocre chance.</p>
<p>The average admitted UC GPA at UC Berkeley last year was about 4.21--so 4.11 is a bit low, but if you can compensate by beating the average single sitting SAT score (about 2008), then you have a good chance (this means you need about a 2100 SAT--or a 2050, plus two 700s on the SAT II subject tests you take). Keep in mind that it's the best "single sitting" score--UC Berkeley (as well as the other UCs) does not "superscore" the SAT I portion like most schools do in the Ivy league.</p>
<p>Good luck</p>
<p>P.S. Yes, any honors beyond the 8 will actually lower your scores--even if you get As (good for you to notice that since most people don't understand this)--but yes, UC Berkeley admins take this into account and give you credit/kudos for taking the extra courses.</p>
<p>get into something you are passionate about, even though its kind of late now. You should have continued dance somehow. Get your Sats up, but with so many qualified applicants now a days, you need to present something special. Looking at your profile, you have a very small chance, unless your essays are just incredible.</p>
<p>what if... hypothetically speaking.. i get like a 2300 on the SAT and 700+ on the subject tests.. and a high ACT score as well... and went back to dance, did more volunteer work, and took college courses.... and looked into something im passionate about, like journalism, and got an internship or something. will i have a good chance at UCB then?? or should i forget cal entirely... </p>
<p>what other schools do i have a good chance at?</p>
<p>Pinkduckie -- Berkeley's admissions process is very numerically based. If your SAT were like, 2200 or 2250+, OR your GPA were higher, you'd probably have a very good shot.</p>
<p>I do know a guy who got in with a 2400 SAT and pretty darn mediocre grades. So a good SAT score can help you.</p>
<p>Maybe take some summer courses and do well in community college work or something. But a better SAT is something you can shoot for. If you're trying for engineering though, ....not a good idea. Be sure you apply to L&S or something.</p>
<p>because of the 8 semester limit with honors courses in calculating a GPA, 4.11 is the highest it will go...if i calculated it correctly...</p>
<p>they look at your first semester senior grades too, right? and they don't look at freshman year?</p>
<p>i most likely wont go into engineering
right now, the areas im interested in majoring in are psychology and journalism/media/communications. im also considering political science or philosophy... </p>
<p>im really good at math. writing and grammar, too. (those B's that i got... i had some distractions for a period of time... i dont want to go into details... so i still think the courses that im taking are fairly ace-able for me)</p>
<p>could anyone suggest any other schools that will fit me? i would like to stay in california, and all ive been interested in are UC's, but if theres a perfect school out there for me, ill go for it. and i am not going to a CSU.</p>
<p>After reviewing your stats, I would say you have a pretty good chance of getting accepted. You have a very high GPA, but your test scores are only medicore, I would say retake it again and aim for a 2000+ and aim for 28+ on the ACT. UC Berkeley is really really competitive this year, according to the top 100 universities in the US. Berekely was ranked No. 6 and UCLA was ranked No. 11. One of my friend that graduated from last year applied to Berkeley with a GPA closed to a 4.0 and she got accepted, I think mainly because she wrote a really great personal statement essay. Her ACT scores was lower than a 28 and she never retook it and still got in. You should try to apply and see if you get accepted or not? You do have a pretty good chance, but I think UC Berkeley is much more competitive on admissions this year. It's not all about academics, you have to have many EC's, community service hours, and something extra that adds to your application. You have very few EC's so, I would say get involved in clubs/programs when your a senior, anything that will add to your application. You have a lot of community service hours, so don't worry about that. The requirement is at least 200 hrs, which you do have =] But, if you can get more, that would be great! If you graduate in the top 10% or top 4% of your senior class, I think they will definitely take you if you have very good grades for senior year as well. Do the best you can in senior year, these grades are really important! If you slack off and get anything lower than a C, they will revoke your acceptance letter and you will not be considered for admissions anymore. I think some other UC's that might fit your stats would be UC Irvine, UC San Diego, and UC Santa Barbara. There average GPA is not as high..but UC San Diego is around a 4.0.
Anyways, best of luck with everything!!!</p>
<p>so if i returned to dance and continued piano, that wont be enough EC? ive been doing piano for 10 years and did dance for 13.. idk what else i could get into right now, its a bit too late... i guess i could join clubs senior year... theres a slight chance that i could be editor of the school newspaper, would that help at all? what if i get like a really good job? like tutoring?</p>
<p>also, any tips for the personal statement? from what you have all told me, i probably need to make the essay like superrr incredibleeee. </p>
<p>thanks for all the advice so far :) i havent really been this concerned about college until recently, mostly cuz i didnt know where to search for answers. you guys have been helpful!</p>
<p>Well, it doesn't really matter if you continued dance and piano, those are not really considered as "EC's" there more like electives that you enjoy doing on top of your academic subjects. No, its not too late at all..your still a junior, you still have about a year before you apply to colleges. Just keep in mind that you should be more involved in campus(clubs, programs, activities) during senior year and try to join more clubs and activities this year also. Yes! If you do join in newspaper and become an editor, that will REALLY look good in your college apps because it requires really challenging writing. Hmm..if you get a good job, it really doesn't matter on your college apps..there looking more towards your volunteer work that you have done in high school. If you really want to stand out from other applicants, try getting 300+ community service hours(which is way over the UC Requirement). Yes..I have some great tips for writing personal statements. First off, Be real, honest, and open. Second, describe the obstacles you faced in your life, you will have to write about things that you normally would not tell ANYONE including your best friend. Something EXTREMELY Personal! That is what UC's will look for, they really like it when you tell something really personal about yourself and how you overcame those obstacles. But..you really don't need to worry about personal statements right now..your not applying until next year on November. I worked on my personal statements for about 4 months, I worked on it during the summer and during the first few months of senior year. Oh Gosh! It was so stressful to reveal all those personal things about myself..but I think I did pretty good overall =] I got tons of help from counselors, teachers, friends, etc..It was seriously the best essays I've ever written.
For now, just concentrate on getting good grades and retaking SAT's for higher scores, getting more involve on campus, etc.
Senior year will seriously be the most stressful and exciting year of high school.</p>
<p>if i dont become editor-in-chief, is it worth mentioning that im a page editor for my school newspaper? because i currently am, and my job is to manage, assign articles, and design the layout for 2 pages of the newspaper.</p>
<p>i am in the 3 honor societies at my school, but i am not an active member. i am also in a club called Helping Hands and its pretty much like Key Club because we do volunteer work. </p>
<p>i am in the academic decathlon class, but can it also count as an extra-curricular? </p>
<p>one more thing...... can fulls scores on the SAT/ACT really boost your chances for any college, if you have a mediocre GPA like mine? how about a really amazing personal statement... can it really make or break your chances at acceptance?</p>
<p>Yes, if you are currently a part of the school newspaper, you will have to put that in under EC's on your UC Apps. No..I don't think academic decathlon class will count as an EC since it is a class and not a club or an activity. If you get a perfect score on the SAT/ACT it will really help your chances at a UC even if you have an average GPA because SAT/ACT scores are really important for admissions. Hmm..if you have a really good personal statement,it will increase your chances if your stats are really good also. It depends, if you have medicore GPA, test scores, and a few EC's and community service hours and you write an outstanding personal statement..you might can get in if your essay is REALLY REALLY well written.</p>